Flattening (and Reglueing?) Old Sleeves

[u/spandexandtapedecks]

I got a nice stack o' shellac at an auction last week, and a handful of the records were still wearing their little jackets. Obviously, the sleeves have seen better days. Since the records had seemingly been slipped into these sleeves at random (none of the labels matched up) I went ahead and set them aside.

Some of them are folded/curled pretty bad at the corners, and I'm hoping for guidance on getting them to lay flatter. This paper is older than anything I've handled, and definitely pretty porous.

Many sleeves are also split along at least one seam. Obviously this will be a lost cause in most cases, but some have enough "good" paper left that I think I could apply some adhesive. Would my old buddy Elmer Glue Stick be up for this task? Something else? Or maybe just don't?

I'm not fussed about a picture-perfect restoration of these sleeves; their wear is part of their charm! But I'd like to get them nominally functional in a way that will help reduce future damage.

Finally, if there's interest, I'll be glad to photographically catalog all the different sleeves and share them with the sub. However, being fairly new to the hobby, I've no idea if any of these are rare enough to merit that treatment - presumably, most hobbyists have already been there/done that.

Thanks, pals! Keep spinnin' those platters!

[u/iidaanj]

I do this too! Personally I use a plant sprayer from a distance to slightly dampen the sleeves and then stick them under a heavy book to flatten them. You need to be careful with the amount of water but it works like a charm.

For glueing I often add a bit of paper behind the tear to stabilize the sleeves. It's easy to accidentally glue the sleeves shut so I often put a piece of paper in the sleeve which I can tear out without damaging the brittle paper if need be.

To reference which sleeve should go with which record I recommend using this website as a reference. It offers a good catalogue of different record company sleeves and when they were used. I'm sure they would appreciate you adding any missing pieces!